This is the News Analysis segment of the Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) Broadcasts.  

For July 12th, 2003  

You have heard the news, now the analysis…  

Fellow Biafrans:  

Please, let nobody ever mention the word, “Democracy” when speaking of Nigeria , or her leaders. Obasanjo is not practicing democracy. PDP is not practicing democracy. The courts in Nigeria are not acting like courts in a democratic country. The State governors are not practicing democracy. Not even the press and media should try to apply the expression, “Democracy,” to Nigeria , because if they do, then, they, too, do not know what they are talking about.  

Do you know what? When Obasanjo wants to get his dictatorial way, he is the first to start shouting, “democracy.”  He then uses accusatory terms like “truncating” democracy against his opponents. If he was initially unsuccessful in intimidating such a determined opponent, if he could not “settle” a principled opponent, he resorts to this last scare tactics, accusing his opponent of trying to truncate democracy.  

Whenever any arm of Obasanjo’s government is performing poorly (and that’s all the time) and it is challenged, the first response will be an accusation or allegation that the challenger is trying to destroy democracy in Nigeria .  That is the only defense of Obasanjo and his government: they turn around and accuse you of anti-democratic behavior if you question what they are up to, or what they are doing.  

Do Obasanjo and the rest of Nigerian understand what Democracy really means, or are they just throwing around an English word whose meaning is best left up to the nations who own the language? Of course, this would not be the first time that He and his friends have used words of which they either did not know the meaning, or knew the meaning but did not have what it takes to implement the meaning.  

Consider Obasanjo’s understanding and practice of Democracy. First, as you well know, the will of the people in governance is supposed to be conveyed through the vehicle of a free and fair election.  This is the heart of  the “government of the people, by the people, for the people” saying which fully describes democracy. Obasanjo knew very well that something happened at every stage of the election process—something negative, something that destroys the spirit and character of Democracy. But, did you hear Obasanjo express any concern? Did he express any outrage? No! Because he was in the middle of this event, the fraudulent rigging of the elections; because it was all engineered to favor him and his party. The people were robbed of their electoral statement—in broad daylight. General Obasanjo, the self-styled and self-appointed defender of democracy, never for one moment expressed any concern about this, but instead, benefited immensely from this, all but confirming that he was fully involved and aware of this fraud and deception. In fact, it was the same Obasanjo who went to the world afterwards and defended himself and his PDP party—the election riggers and beneficiaries—by assuring the world that “things work different in Nigeria”—meaning that rigging elections is acceptable in Nigeria; that the peoples living in Nigeria do not mind that, and that these peoples will accept the dishonest results. Yet, Obasanjo will come out and start shouting, “democracy” in Nigeria .  

Obasanjo, do understand one thing: the people did not vote you into office this time around. But, you stole the results and went and inaugurated yourself and your fellow-thieves and PDP party as winners. This is not democracy. Your government does not have the mandate of the people as conveyed by the results of a free and fair and real election. This is a government based on anything but democracy, a government based on lies and fraud and dishonesty. To hear you speak of democracy in Nigeria is to listen to a hypocrite; it is like listening to a liar preach truth; like listening to a known and active robber who is talking about honesty while standing on top of a stool which he just stole.  

The latest act of Obasanjo is his attempt to restructure Nigeria all by himself. A democratic process will demand presenting any such ideas to the peoples living in Nigeria utilizing the organs and bodies of persons elected by the peoples to represent them. The peoples themselves individually through opinion polls and direct expression through the media would also let their voices and ideas be heard. At the end of the hearing / commentary / discussion period, a consensus would be forged, and then voted on by the appropriate representatives of the people. That’s what a democratic process is like.  

But, leave it to Obasanjo to circumvent a tried and tested democratic process. Leave it to Obasanjo to do it all in his usual autocratic and anti-democratic way, at the same time that he is shouting and bragging about his democratic credentials, at the same time that he is threatening anybody pointing out his hypocrisy with charges of truncating democracy in Nigeria! Now, let’s examine what he did this time.  

General Obasanjo first crafted his ideas and in this instance, presented them to the so-called Council of State for rubberstamping. Then after that, Obasanjo was ready to implement this crass idea on the public, to impose his ideas on the peoples living in Nigeria without giving them a chance to consider, debate or even originate the solution. Let us ask you: do you know who make up the so-called Council of State? Take a guess. Do you know that it is the old military coupists who (mis)ruled Nigeria at one time in the past? These are persons who took part in suspending and making rubbish whatever constitution was operative in Nigeria . Having done that, they imposed a military junta of strongmen, but really idiots and ignorami who had no clue how to run a country. These men destroyed what was left of Nigeria , destroyed the economy, healthcare, education, and destroyed the opportunities, the hopes and the aspirations of whole peoples living in Nigeria . Then, they turned around and continuously looted the treasury, stealing the only money Nigeria got from usurping Biafran oil. It is to these men that Obasanjo went and got consent to impose his hare-brained ideas on the generality of peoples living in Nigeria .  

Think of the likes of Gowon—the simpleton; he at least admitted his incompetence—or Babangida or Abubakar, and the rest. You know, if Abacha was alive today, he would be a member of this council. Can any group of people be worse for Nigeria than these men? Can there be a more visionless set of persons or so-called leaders for Nigeria than these shallow-minded persons? These are the persons who, in the first place, need to be put on trial by the peoples living in Nigeria , and made to account for their conduct and malfeasance in ruining the country. It is these men that Obasanjo went to, instead of the peoples themselves, for approval of his plan. Is this not an insult to the intelligence of the peoples living in Nigeria ?  

Is this not a slap on the face of democracy, that Obasanjo who is always carrying on as if he was the embodiment of democracy, should go to a council whose members are unelected, instead of the elected bodies, to seek approval for Obasanjo’s ideas which he is going to force upon, and foist on, the peoples living in Nigeria ? Is Obasanjo merely ignorant, for which he can be pardoned—he can’t help himself—or is he really the double-talking double-faced hypocrite (which is more likely)? How is it that a man who claims that he is practicing democracy would fail to notice that he has gone to an unelected body for approval of a plan that should be debated by a body of officials and representatives elected by the peoples living in Nigeria precisely for this kind of work?  

Is it not enough that these council members at one time or another raped the peoples living in Nigeria , and trampled their collective political will and rights? Is it not enough that this council symbolizes everything that democracy is not? Yet, Obasanjo claims that he is practicing and protecting democracy by taking counsel from this council and placing before them what is rightly meant to go to elected bodies. We can rest assured that he pays them from the Nigerian coffers—pays them to rubberstamp his stupid ideas—although these men have enriched themselves from the Nigerian Treasury beyond the imagination of the average person living in Nigeria who has to survive on less than one dollar per day.  

This is democracy, Obasanjo-style. Obasanjo is an autocrat who likes to lie to the people, and perhaps, to himself if he has any honesty left, that he is pursuing a democratic course in Nigeria . This is democracy, Obasanjo-style, the situation where a dictator forces his way on the people, while lecturing the people on the virtues of democracy and while telling the people that he is practicing democracy. This is democracy, Obasanjo-style, an aberration whereby Obasanjo, realizing that he can’t fool the world, tells the world that Nigeria is different, hence, the democratic process in Nigeria can expediently be adulterated or totally negated and still be allowed to pass as real democracy, because that’s how he will sell it to the peoples living in Nigeria.  

Yes, indeed, he will sell this to the peoples living in Nigeria —easily.And the peoples living in Nigeria buy this nonsense! We can spend the entire time talking about the anti-democrat and hypocrite called Obasanjo and his evil party, PDP. But what about the peoples living in Nigeria—peoples who see what is going on and yet refuse to speak up, refuse to stand up and be counted? What can we say about the peoples living in Nigeria —people who sit there and allow their intelligence and dignity to be insulted by hypocrites the likes of Obasanjo? We sit and take his lies; and we learn to take his lies, and we are forced to accept his lies; soon, we agree with him that his lies are in fact truth: we begin to believe his lies. Soon, we can no longer tell the difference between lies and truth. What a waste!  

Fellow Biafrans: we understand that you have to find a way to stay alive and eke out an existence. We understand that you must make your choices while driven by the need to survive—any how possible. We weep for the day when you slipped into this state of quasi-existence where you accept and allow  any burden placed on you without challenge because there is no protest left in you. We can only pray for Liberation Day when the Rising Sun called Biafra shall revive you and place you in the path and in the place, of life, once again.  

God will bring Biafra actualization to fruition. God will console you and wipe away your tears by proving to you that He created you Biafrans and in Biafraland, that nothing can change that. As such, Biafra lives, and you with it!  

That’s the news analysis. Thank you.

 

God bless and keep Biafra ; and you, until our next broadcast. Voice of Biafra International broadcast continues. (http://www.biafraland.com; follow “Voice of Biafra ” Link.